Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water awful water

My pond is a puddle in comparison to what you folks are dealing with, but the challenges remain. lol It is about .1 acre-feet (30x30, 5' deep). We would like to raise catfish in it. We have caught some channel and probably some bullhead cats babies and already have them in there, along with a bunch of minnows who are all thriving ok. We have more than sufficient filtration and aeration system already in place. The water was/is awful even before adding fish or aeration.

The pond fills with rainwater and high water table (central east coast of Florida, water table averages 1-3').
Just recently we dug the pond deeper, about 3-4' hit hardpan, and dug below that level to 5-6'. Rain filled the pond. It is an awful murky tea color. Letting the water sit in a fish bowl for days and it still doesnt clear up.

We dipped a fish bowl of water out and added a some gypsum and it didn't touch the clarity. Added more and more, and it actually made it look worse, not being able to see through it at all - creamed coffee color.

Have a 180+ LED, 1100 luminosity green shrimping light and it was NOT visible at 2 1/2 feet!!!
pH is 6.0. Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite are all 0.

I assume some of the problems are from the hardpan, maybe some from being surrounded by pines. Is there anything I can do to clear the water?

Your yard looks like mine

I assume those are tannins, leached out of the pines/pine needles and other vegetation,
But I'm not an expert.

We have whole creeks and rivers in the big bend that look like that

No clue how to fix, unless you line the pond and fill with well
Water.



What breed of chickens do you keep?

yeah, could be tannins too. Hope somebody can suggest ways to clear it.
thanks for your reply!

I'll let the water experts provide feedback on the water.

As for catfish, especially since you have aeration, you should have no problem raising channel cats. In your climate, and if you feed them, you should be able to raise quite a few pounds of them. You could easily start with 25, and maybe push it to 50 fish.

Unfortunately, you will probably regret having put in the bullheads. I doubt the channel cats will control them, and they will probably become overcrowded and stunted food robbers.

If you have anyway of draining the pond back down, I'd do that. Then I'd add hydrated lime to any water puddles to kill any remaining fish.

Channel cats are quite inexpensive. I'd go to a local dealer to get purebred and healthy stock. Add some each season, or maybe twice a year. They will probably not reproduce, so add about an equivalent number, plus probably 10-20% for miscellaneous mortality, to those you take out. Start a simple feeding program. Just go out nearly every day and throw out enough catfish pellets for them to gobble down in 10-15 minutes.

At some point, if you should have some reproduction, you may have to look at adding a small number of predators, like a few largemouth bass.

If you get your water cleared, you could add a couple of koi just for viewin enjoyment.

Great info thanks! We caught all the fish in there (cats and minnows) in minnow traps out of a large canal. I agree, Ill probably regret the bullheads. There is no way to drain it right now being in the rainy season and water table is so high. I may be able to do that this winter. Wonder if I could trap them again. lol Koi would be fun, if I could see further than 1/2".

You could try the water test again, but this time, add alum, not gypsum.

have you tried adding lime to the water? you have a low ph not sure what it would do but might be worth a try. do it just in the fishbowl with a small amount. lime is fairly cheap for a fifty pound bag

Depending on what lime you use, watch the pH.

Ok, thanks. Ill try to add some lime. Thank you!

chickenchaps those are tannins and really hard to remove from water. You may get lucky with calcium carbonate. Tannins in drinking water are not a health issue, however they are aesthetically displeasing.

tannins are: Humic acid and Fulvic acid . These are simplified structures of very large molecules. Gallic acid, guaiacyl, syringyl and cresylic moieties are the building blocks of these organic molecules (Kunin, 1986)

Cheers Don.

P.S. found this little tid bit of info.

Other Methods of Removing Tannins
Oxidizing agents like chlorine are effective at breaking down organic compounds like tannins. A simple jar test will show the concentration and retention time required to oxidize tannins. An activated carbon unit following the retention tank will remove the chlorine and may adsorb other organic compounds in the water. Some types of activated carbon alone may reduce the tannins to acceptable levels. Consult your carbon manufacturer for the appropriate type of product. It should be noted that the reaction between chlorine and tannins might produce trihalomethane (THMs) which are carcinogens.

Reverse Osmosis is another effective method for removing tannins. Since tannins are high molecular weight organics RO should reject them effectively. However, tannins will tend to foul the membrane in the system. It also is very expensive to properly install a whole house RO system to treat all of the water. Check with your local water doctor for more information.

Don, chlorine effectiveness is questionable to me. When I first built my latest pond I dumped a lot of fresh dozed oak trees into the bottom for structure. When it rained, the water turned black and lethal to anything I stocked. At that time, it was about 3/8 acre and 5 ft deep. I added enough chlorine to kill everything in 4 or 5 Olympic size swimming pools. It changed the color a little bit but was still lethal. I finally pumped it dry and let the Texas summer take care of the problem.

The above was just a cut and paste on drinking water. No intentions to use chlorine. Might get away with calcium carbonate.

Oak has got to be one of the worst next to cedar.

Cheers Don.

Chicken, I'm with others here. It looks like tannin stained water and you will probably always have a dark, tea colored water. I'd suggest adding a ton of agricultural lime to the pond (an extra ton in the inflowing watershed will help also). Seriously consider catching whatever fish you can, then nuking the fish left with 500-700 pounds of hydrated lime....wait about 3 weeks and restock with the fish of choice.

Bullheads, and heavily stocked channels will root in the bottom sediments to keep the water constantly muddied. Alum and other flocculants won't help clear the water of tannins.